Here are some Fun New Mexico Facts:
State Motto: “It grows as it goes” (“Crescit eundo”)
State Flower is the Yucca.
Capital is Santa Fe.
Largest City is Albuquerque.
State Bird is the Roadrunner.
State Nickname is “Land of Enchantment”
New Mexico got its name as a reference to Mexico by the Spanish.
The Four Corner Monument can be found in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
New Mexico’s official state animal is the Black Bear, in honor of the little cub that was found in a fire in 1950. The cub became Smokey, the Bear.
During the first weekend in October, the world’s biggest enchilada is made in Las Cruces. Yum!

Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site who feature New Mexico locations/settings in their books:

Sandi Ault: Wild Mystery Series

Vannetta Chapman: Jacobs Family Mystery Series

Alice Duncan: Annabelle Blue Mystery Series

Tony Hillerman: Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee Mystery Series

Michael McGarrity: Kevin Kerney Mystery Series

Ann Myers: Santa Fe Cafe Mystery Series

Paula Paul (aka Paula Carter): Irene Seligman Mystery Series

J. Michael Orenduff: Pot Thief Mystery Series

Carolyn J. Rose: Casey Brandt Mystery Series

Walter Satterthwait: Joshua Croft Mystery Series

Maria E. Schneider: Catch an Honest Thief AND Under Witch Moon

Connie Shelton: Charlie Parker Mystery Series AND Samantha Sweet Mystery Series

Pari Noskin Taichert: Sasha Solomon Mystery Series

Aimée and David Thurlo: Sister Agatha Mystery Series AND Ella Clah Mystery Series AND Lee Nez Mystery Series

Judith Van Gieson: Claire Reynier Mystery Series AND Neil Hamel Mystery Series

Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

Barbara recently asked:

… Does anyone know of another cozy series where the lead character is a woman (single, divorced, or married) with kids?… I was wondering if there was another cozy series where the “heroine” has children. Thanks for any input…

Here is a list of mystery books that feature Mothers as Sleuths. These moms are either single, married, widowed, or divorced. I have only listed the authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site…

Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series

Laura Alden: PTA Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

C. C. Benison: Father Christmas Mystery Series (Tom Christmas is a widowed father.)

Kate Borden: Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

Kaye George (aka Janet Cantrell): Imogene Duckworthy Mystery Series

Nora Charles (aka Noreen Wald): Kate Kennedy Mystery Series

Jill Churchill: Jane Jeffry Mystery Series

E. J. Copperman (aka Jeffrey Cohen): Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series

Deborah Crombie: Kincaid & James Mystery Series

Mary Daheim: Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Nancy Fairbanks (aka Nancy Herndon): Culinary Food Writer Mystery Series

Sharon Fiffer: Jane Wheel Mystery Series

Yasmine Galenorn (aka India Ink): Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series

Sarah Graves: Home Repair is Homicide Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Terris McMahan Grimes: Theresa Galloway Mystery Series

Joan Hess: Claire Malloy Mystery Series

Lee Hollis: Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mystery Series

Jane Isenberg: Bel Barrett Mystery Series

J. A. Jance:Joanna Brady Mystery Series

Alice Kimberly (aka Cleo Coyle): Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series

Evan Marshall: Jane Stuart & Winky Mystery Series

Tamar Myers: Den of Antiquity Mystery Series

Diana Orgain: Maternal Instincts Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Sara Rosett: Mom Zone Mystery Series

Cindy Sample: Laurel McKay Mystery Series

Joanna Campbell Slan: Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft Mystery Series

Sarah Stohmeyer: Hairdresser Mystery Series

Teresa Trent: Pecan Bayou Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper Mystery Series

If you can think of any other sleuths who are mothers of children still at home, please post a comment.

PS>>>> GOOD GRIEF!!!! How about my Stay-at-Home Moms Mystery Series?!?

You would think I could have remembered this theme!!! My excuse is that I wrote it in April of 2008>>> which clearly is not a valid excuse! But, in all fairness, this is not limited to Stay-at-Home Moms. For example, Kate Borden’s Peggy Jean Turner is the mayor of her town AND Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear runs a successful catering business. Claire Malloy (Joan Hess) is the owner of a book store. So for a more in-depth list of Mothers as Sleuths, you could incorporate both of these themes…

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme, click on this link.♦

I was asked by a Cozy Mystery site reader if I could put up a Lawyers in Mystery Books theme. Here are the mystery book series (that can be found on the Cozy Mystery site) which feature lawyers as their main sleuths:

Jeff Abbott: Whit Mosley Mystery Series

Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series

Nancy Bell: Judge Jackson Crain Mystery Series

Terri Blackstock: Newpointe 911 Series

Taffy Cannon (aka Emily Toll): Nan Robertson Mystery Series

John Dickson Carter: Henri Bencolin Mystery Series

Sammi Carter: Candy Shop Mystery Series

Sarah Caudwell: Hilary Tamar Mystery Series

C.S. Challinor: Rex Graves Mystery Series

Mary Challis (aka Sara Woods, Margaret Leek, & Anne Burton): Jeremy Locke Mystery Series

Kate Charles: Book of Psalms Mystery Series

Margaret Coel: Wind River Mystery Series

Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series

Natasha Cooper: Trish Maguire Mystery Series

Claire Daniels (aka Jaqueline Girdner): Karma Crime Mystery Series

Nora DeLoach: Mama Detective Mystery Series

Lesley Egan (aka Elizabeth Linington, Dell Shannon, & Anne Balisdell): Jesse Falkenstein Mystery Series

Linda Fairstein: Alex Cooper Mystery Series

Ann C. Fallon: James Fleming Mystery Series

Christina Freeburn: Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery Series

Frances Fyfield: Sarah Fortune Mystery Series AND Helen West Mystery Series

Erle Stanley Gardner: Perry Mason Mystery Series AND Doug Selby Mystery Series

Louise Gaylord: Allie Armington Mystery Series

Sally Goldenbaum: Seaside Knitters Mystery Series

Cyril Hare: Francis Pettigrew Mystery Series

Jonnie Jacobs: Kali O’Brien Mystery Series

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Odelia Grey Mystery Series

Linda O. Johnston: Kendra Ballantyne Mystery Series

Leslie Karst: Sally Solari Mystery Series

Sean Keefer: Stand Alone Mystery: The Trust

Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Death and Taxes Mystery Series

Jane Langton: Homer Kelly Mystery Series

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Pumpkin Patch Mystery Series

Margaret Leek (aka Sara Woods, Mary Challis, & Anne Burton): Stephen Marryat Mystery Series

Margaret Maron: Deborah Knott Mystery Series

Edward Marston (aka Keith Miles & Conrad Allen): Railway Detective Mystery Series AND Domesday Mystery Series

Ralph M. McInerny (aka Monica Quill): Andrew Broom Mystery Series

D. R. Meredith: John Lloyd Branson Mystery Series

John Mortimer: Rumpole of the Bailey Mystery Series

Perri O’Shaughnessy: Nina Reilly Mystery Series

Sara Paretsky: V.I. Warshawski Mystery Series

Barbara Parker: Suspicion Mystery Series

Chessen Parker: Crystal Coast Mystery Series

James Patterson: Women’s Murder Club Mystery Series

Cathy Pickens: Southern Fried Mystery Series

Rhonda Pollero: F. A. T. Mystery Series

David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter Mystery Series

Lisa Scottoline: Rosato & Associates Mystery Series

Julie Smith: Rebecca Schwartz Mystery Series

Patricia Sprinkle: Thoroughly Southern Mystery Series

Mary Stanton (aka Claudia Bishop): Beaufort & Company Mystery Series

Shirley Tallman (aka Erin Ross): Sarah Woolson Mystery Series

Robert K. Tanenbaum: Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi Mystery Series

Peter Tremayne: Mystery of Ancient Ireland: Sister Fidelma Mystery Series

Margaret Truman: Smith & Reed Mystery Series

Robert Van Gulik: Judge Dee Mystery Series

Sara Woods (aka Anne Burton, Mary Challis, & Margaret Leek): Antony Maitland Mystery Series

Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

A Cozy Mystery site reader asked that I do a post that featured mystery books with the “double” theme: Actor/Dancer. I divided the theme, and here is the part that features mystery books with a Dancers theme. I have only listed the authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site…

Ella Barrick (aka Laura DiSilverio & Lila Dare): Ballroom Dance Mystery Series

Susan Bernhardt: Irina Curtius Mystery Series

Carole Berry: Bonnie Indermil Mystery Series

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series

Shelley Freydont: Lindy Haggerty Mystery Series

Victoria Gilbert: Blue Ridge Library Mystery Series (a dancer and choreographer is a main character, but not the sleuth)

Mary McHugh: Happy Hoofers Mystery Series

Annette Meyers: Smith & Wetzon Mystery Series

Natalie M. Roberts: Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery Series

Here are two mystery books that are dance-themed:

Linda Fairstein: Death Dance (The rest of the Alexandra Cooper Mystery Series is not dance-related.)

Anne George: Murder on a Girls’ Night Out (The rest of the Southern Sisters Mystery Series is not dance-related.)

Leslie Meiers: Tippy Toe Murder (The rest of the Lucy Stone Mystery Series is not dance-related.)

Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦